


let me feel your heartbeat

by orphan_account



Category: Professional Wrestling, WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst, BC THESE FOOLS ARE IN LOVE, Domestic Fluff, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 13:25:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: He doesn’t know what compels him to say Finn’s name, but he said it out loud in a moment of panic and anger.





	let me feel your heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, I finally wrote a fake dating au for these idiots in love. I hope, once again, that I did them justice. I set the timeline during SummerSlam week and weekend, as well as the following Monday and the rest is non-canon from there. 
> 
> Title is from Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen. 
> 
> Enjoy!

            He doesn’t know what compels him to say Finn’s name, but he said it out loud in a moment of panic and anger.

 Seth watches as Dean’s face goes through multiple different expressions until it settles on disbelief as he laughs.

“Yeah, okay, sure,” Dean says, still laughing.

Seth feels annoyance seep up and it must have shown on his face because Dean holds up both of his hands in surrender.

“I just don’t get it. Wasn’t it your fault he was gone for almost a year?” asks Dean, putting his hands down and raising an eyebrow.

Seth feels his heart clench at that, guilt of the injury still gnawing in the back of his head. He feels his hands twitch, the urge to curl them up into fists, but he resists.

“We’ve talked about it,” Seth tells him. And they had - last February. When Finn and himself were stuck together at rehab, having only each other as company. He knew Finn didn’t blame him. He had told Seth that multiple times in the quiet of the nights they would hang out together in Birmingham. He’d heard it when he watched Finn’s special last May – _“I don’t blame him one bit. We all know accidents happen.”_ And the look Finn had given the camera, a look of annoyance that anyone would blame Seth for something that wasn’t his fault. Seth remembers watching that and thinking the world didn’t deserve someone like Finn.

He snaps out of the memory with a slight shake of his head and focus his attention back on Dean. He crosses his arms and narrow his eyes at him. “It’s none of your business anyways, Dean.”

Dean rolls his eyes and scratches his head. “I’m just trying to figure out why you never told me.”

Seth lets out a huff, ignoring the panic that’s growing inside him. “It’s…new. We only started dating in May.” Dean squints his eyes at him like he’s trying to catch him in a lie, but Seth, panicking continues on. “We didn’t want anyone to know! We were trying things out to see if we could work and well,” Seth gives a shrug. “We’re good together.”

Seth thinks, he’s so, so fucked trying to explain this to Finn later and he’s itching to leave already, feeling like a caged animal with all the questions Dean’s been asking him. It’s Dean’s fault in a way for all of this. Seth had been joking around and teasing Dean about his new look, about how Renee must feel about Dean looking like he just got out of prison. Dean had jabbed back at Seth by telling him at least he has someone – unlike Seth, who’s a perpetual mess that no one could handle being with him or want to be with him. Seth knew Dean was joking, but it hit a bit too close to home so in that moment he had told Dean, that yeah, someone can be with him, that he isn’t too much, and when Dean had asked who, he panicked and said Finn.

Dean’s watching him with a thoughtful expression when Seth feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out his pocket, he huffs out a quiet laugh.

Speak of the devil, he thinks, unlocking his phone.

**Where are you? I’m in the arena garage waiting for your dumb arse.**

He smiles while he types out his response.

**Locker room. Got caught up with Dean. I’ll be there in five.**

He doesn’t have to wait long for a response because as soon as he sends it, he receives the thumbs up emoji from Finn which makes him swell with fondness.

Pocketing his phone, he looks back up at Dean who’s smirking at him. Seth feels his smile drop and goes in defensive mode.

“What,” he asks, crossing his arms. Dean shakes his head and if it’s possible, Seth swears the smirk on Dean’s face gets even bigger. “Was that Finn?” Dean asks. Seth narrows his eyes at him. “None of your business. Look, are we done here? I need to go.”

Dean gives him a laugh and gestures to the door. “Yeah, yeah. Go see your boyfriend. Tell him I said good job tonight.”

Seth glares at him and picks up his bags and flips Dean off before turning away and heading out of the locker room. He hears Dean laugh and Seth pushes down the nerves he feels as he walks towards the arena garage to meet Finn. Finn’s friendship is one that Seth cherishes a lot. They’ve been through a lot these past two years and to find comfort with each other through this friendship, well, it means a lot to Seth. He knows history wise he isn’t the best person to be friends with. He only just started rebuilding his friendship with Roman and Dean back up again in the later part of last year.

But then again, he doesn’t seek out friendships. Trusting people is hard for him, but for some reason, ever since Finn came up from NXT, he’d been drawn to him. It was a rocky start, neither of them good with trusting others and they had good reason not to trust each other. But after SummerSlam, after the injury, after the both of them rehabbing together, something shifted and Seth knows – he knows how he feels about Finn. He knows his feelings aren’t platonic as much as he tries to tell himself otherwise and that’s why he said Finn’s name back there.

Deep down, he knows it’s not possible for him to be with Finn because Dean’s right, he is a mess and he knows no one wants to deal with his issues or his cockiness. Finn deserves someone who isn’t Seth freakin’ Rollins, he thinks bitterly. No one wants to deal with his shit.

When he enters the arena garage, he scans his surroundings until his eyes land on Finn, who looks like he’s facetiming with someone, a grin on his face as he talks. Seth feels himself smile at that, but he also feels his heart twist because he’s noticed Finn doing a lot less smiling than usual these days. He knows the reasoning behind it even if Finn tells him he’s fine, but Seth knows Finn better than he knows himself these days. He’s seen the whole feud with Baron take a toll on Finn and even if Finn grins and tells him otherwise, Seth can see right through him and knows Finn is everything but fine. He wishes he could do something about it and he curses Creative for doing this to Finn.

Seth hadn’t realize how distracted he was until he felt someone shove his shoulder. He turns ready to give the rude person a piece of his mind when he sees Dean’s grinning face with an equally grinning Renee beside him and Seth lets out a groan when he sees both their eyes twinkling with mischief. 

“No,” he groans out. “The two of together are worse. Go away.”

“You were just standing here staring at Finn! And you’re tense! He’s your boyfriend apparently, why are you so nervous?” Renee asks him, narrowing her eyes at him.

Seth glares at Dean. “You told her?!”

“You didn’t say I couldn’t tell anyone,” Dean says, shrugging. “Besides, she’s my wife! I tell her everything.” And Renee beams at that.

Seth rolls his eyes and mumbles a faint, “Whatever.”

Suddenly, he sees Dean grin maniacally, his eyes focused ahead and when Seth turns to look at where Dean’s staring at, he sees it’s at Finn and all Seth can think is _Oh shit_ , before Dean yells out, “Finn!” and starts taking long strides towards him. Seth sees Finn turn his attention away from his phone and onto Dean and Seth feels his heart race in panic as he watches with wide eyes.

He looks at Renee who gives him a shrug. “Uh, I’m not responsible for whatever he says. Tell him I’ll be in the car.” She starts walking away from him, but stops turning back, a soft smile on her face. “Hey, Seth? You and Finn, I think it’s good.” She turns away and walks to where her and Dean’s rental is parked and Seth, stunned for a moment from her words, shakes himself and all but runs to where Finn and Dean are.

“-are dating!” Is the first thing he hears when he gets there and he’s standing behind Dean, his eyes wide as he looks at Finn who’s staring at Dean dumbfounded. Finn must have finally noticed Seth behind Dean because his blue eyes flash and lock onto his brown eyes and he doesn’t know what his eyes give away because Finn turns his attention back to Dean.

“Yes, we’re together,” Finn tells Dean and Seth feels a rush of relief but also guilt run through his body.

“Wait, what?!” says a voice distinctly that sounds like Karl Anderson’s over the phone and Seth watches as it’s Finn’s turn to panic, remembering that he was talking to someone on the phone.

“Bloody hell,” Finn curses. “Karl, I’ll call you back later.” Seth hears some protest at that before Finn hangs up and shoves his phone into his pocket. His blue eyes are narrowed at Seth’s and Seth knows he’s going to have to do a lot of explaining on the car ride to the hotel.

“Huh,” Dean says. “I thought he was lying.”

Seth watches as Finn turns his focus to Dean, his eyes still narrowed when he answers back.

“Nope. We’re together. Isn’t that right, babe?” says Finn, emphasizing the babe part. Seth gives Finn a sheepish look at that and Finn sighs, giving Seth a small smile and nodding his head to come stand beside him. When he does, Finn puts an arm around his waist, his hand resting on Seth’s hip and Seth feels himself stiffen, until he feels Finn give him a pinch and Seth relaxes, his own arm going around Finn’s shoulder. He feels Finn slightly shiver when his fingers graze the back of his neck and Seth swallows. It means nothing, he thinks. Finn tucks himself into Seth’s side and all Seth can think about now is how perfectly Finn fits into him – like Finn was born into the world specifically to always be by his side. 

Before he loses himself in his thoughts about Finn, Seth gives his attention back to Dean who’s watching the both of them like he’s trying to figure something out.

Annoyed, Seth gives him a glare.

“Are we done here?” he asks.

“For now,” Dean says, smiling. He turns his attention towards Finn and Seth does the same. It’s hard to read what he’s thinking but Seth knows Finn is going to being chewing him out either in the car or when they’re back at the hotel.

“Hey, it was nice to have you in the ring with us tonight. Hopefully sometime soon we’ll be in the ring together again. Haven’t had a chance to wrestle you yet,” Dean tells Finn. Seth is still watching Finn’s face, so he sees surprise flash briefly on his face before he gives Dean a small smile.

“Yeah, mate. That would be pretty cool,” Finn responds back and Seth can’t help but smile at him. He pulls the Irishman a bit closer to him, his fingers gently grazing his shoulder in a sign of comfort. Finn turns his head to focus on Seth’s eyes and Seth feels his heart skip a beat at how bright and blue Finn’s eyes are. If there’s one thing other than Finn’s heart Seth likes, it’s his eyes. He doesn’t feel like he does them justice if he compares them to the blues of the sky or the blues of the ocean. They’re a wonderment of their own because there is nothing in this world that’s beautiful enough to even compare.

Seth didn’t realize they were both in their own little world because he hears a throat clearing and startled, his attention snaps back to Dean’s.

“Okay lovebirds, I’ll leave you two be for now. I’ll see you guys this weekend in Brooklyn,” Dean says, smirking. He turns away from them and Seth opens his mouth to say something, but Finn mutters out a “Don’t,” so he keeps his mouth shut.

He feels Finn remove his arm from around where it was on his waist, so Seth does the same with the arm he had around Finn. It’s barely been a second, but he already misses the warmth he felt from Finn being tucked beside him.

“Mate.” Seth turns to look at Finn who has an unreadable expression on his face. “What was that all about?”

Seth goes to scratch his beard, his hand shaking slightly with nervousness and Finn must have noticed that because his face goes soft and he gives a slight shake of his head.

“Let’s just grab food and then you tell me when we’re back at the hotel. Okay?” Finn says and Seth lets out a sigh relief at that and nods. Finn gives him a quick smile before opening the driver’s seat door and Seth goes to put his bags in the back of the rental, before taking his usual spot in the passenger’s seat.

“Kev wanted to know if we wanted to go to Waffle House with him?” Finn says, looking down at his phone. “Do we,” he hesitates for a second, before continuing. “Do we have to pretend in front of him too? That, we’re, you know a couple?”

Seth feels himself frown hating the fact that he’s making Finn uncertain about their relationship. He shakes his head. “No, we can just be how we always are. Tell him we’ll meet him there.”

Finn nods at that, looking back at his phone and typing out his response before locking it and giving it to Seth to hold on to, which Seth takes.

It’s a quiet sort of comfortableness, even if Seth is a bundle of nerves and guilt for dragging Finn into this mess he created in the first place.

They’re pulling out of the arena and onto the street when Seth can’t take it anymore.

“I panicked,” Seth blurts out and looks at Finn’s profile.

He sees Finn look at him at the corner of his eyes before focusing his attention back on the road.

“What?”

Seth takes a deep breath and exhales before he starts talking. “I...I panicked and I was angry. It’s just,” Seth lets out a frustrated groan and rubs at his beard. “I was joking around with Dean about his new look, about how Renee must feel about him looking like he did 10 years in prison,” he pauses, feeling a bit uneasy about explaining the next part because he knows that Finn knows more about him than anyone, but he sometimes he feels like he’s giving too much away about himself. There’s always that nagging feeling in the back of his head that he can’t trust anyone, can’t get too close with anyone because he’ll only destroy them or they’ll betray him.

He opens his mouth to continue, but shuts it again and looks out the passenger window, watching the city lights go by. He feels a brush of a hand against his thigh and when he looks down, it’s the back of Finn’s hand resting there for a brief moment before it goes back onto the steering wheel.

“Seth,” Finn says, softly. It’s a tone Seth recognizes, encouraging him to continue on. Taking another deep breath and exhaling, he continues.

“It’s dumb,” Seth mutters. “But, uh, I know he was joking, but he said that I was a mess,” He gives out a bitter laugh. “That no one would want to or could handle me.” He sees Finn’s hands slightly tighten around the wheel, but he doesn’t think much of it. “That at least he had someone unlike me.”

He’s watching the side of Finn’s face. Finn’s frowning and his jaw is clenched. Seth is puzzled for a moment at that, not sure why Finn’s upset about something so true.

“So, uh, I lied and said there is someone and I named you and told him that we’ve been dating since May,” he finishes.

Neither of them say anything and it’s only when they pull into the Waffle House parking lot and Finn has parked and shut off the car that the silence is broken.

“Seth,” Finn says. “Look at me for a second.” And God, Seth does because he can’t ever refuse Finn.

There’s a look of determination on his face and his blue eyes are darkened with something fierce and Seth feels like the air as been knocked out of him with that look.

“He’s wrong,” Finn says. “He’s wrong, okay?” There’s a fierceness in his voice, just like his eyes and all Seth can do is swallow and nod is head.

The fierce look in his eyes is gone just like that and now there’s a bright, teasing glint in them and Seth knows nothing good ever comes from that and his thoughts are confirmed when Finn gives him a smirk.

“I’m honoured,” he says. “That ‘The Man’, Seth Rollins, chose me to be his fake boyfriend.”

Yeah, nothing good.

Seth rolls his eyes and tries to keep an annoyed look on his face but it’s rendered useless when he huffs out a laugh.

“Shut up,” Seth says, groaning. “I regret everything that led me up to this point.”

Finn lets out a giggle at that and its music to Seth ears. They’re interrupted by a knock on the window on Seth’s side and Seth startled, turns to see that it’s Kevin, waving at them and smiling.

“Guess we better go. We’ll talk about ground rules at the hotel,” Finn tells him. He holds out his hand and Seth places Finn’s phone on it. They both get out of the car and Finn locks it using the remote.

“Took you two long enough,” Kevin says, forgoing any formal greeting.

Seth rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. We’re here now.”

They all enter the place and get themselves a booth way in the back. Seth slides in beside Finn and Kevin takes the seat opposite of them. A waitress brings over three menus and Seth smiles and thanks her.

It’s a good time and Seth enjoys himself, forgetting about his problems for a bit, letting himself laugh and have fun with Finn and Kevin. There are some moments of laughter, where Seth can’t help but stare a little too long at Finn, enjoying the way he gets crinkles by the side of his eyes. Or how bright the blues of his eyes are when they’re shining with happiness. Seth feels himself get butterflies in his stomach, his feelings for the Irishman hard to keep down in moments like those.

They’re back in their hotel room after saying goodnight to Kevin in the lobby and Seth’s back to being a bundle of nerves. He’s grateful, of course that Finn decided to go along with his idiocy.  He tries to avoid the conversation by heading to the bathroom and getting ready for bed, but once he’s out, he’s greeted with a stern looking Finn and Seth gives him a sheepish look. Finn nods his head towards Seth’s bed, indicating he wants him to go sit down and Seth does. Finn does the same on his own bed, facing Seth.

Finn and him have been sharing hotel rooms and carpooling since Fall of 2017. It’s just – easy for them. They spend enough time together and Seth enjoys Finn’s company even if it is for selfish reasons on his part, but Finn hasn’t gotten tired of him yet to want to stop.

“I was thinking that nothing really would change between us,” Finn begins. Seth’s confused and goes to open his mouth to ask about what he means, when Finn holds up a finger, so he shuts his mouth back up. “I mean we’re, uh, already close? Touching wise.”

Seth takes a moment to process what Finn had said. The thing is Finn isn’t wrong. Now that Seth’s thinking about it, Finn’s the only person he’s been comfortable enough to touch. He’s not much of a touchy feely type of person, hasn’t ever been really. But with Finn, it’s – it’s different. He doesn’t think about why he’s so comfortable with it because even in the past when he’s liked someone he’s always been hesitant.

He clears his throat and gives a nod at Finn. “Uh, yeah, you’re right.” He gives out an awkward chuckle and Finn returns it with an awkward smile of his own.

“What’s our story about how we got together if anyone asks?” Finn asks him.

Seth thinks about the moments after their match in Montreal, where he’d won and kept the IC Title. He remembers looking down at Finn, who was breathing hard on the ring floor, a look of defeat on his face. He remembers his heart clenching at the look, hating it. He’d extended his hand down towards Finn who clasped onto it as Seth helped him back to his feet. He could hear the crowd clapping in the moment, but he was stuck, memorized by Finn who had still been holding on to his hand, but this time with both. Seth remembers his heart racing not just from the match, but from how much, in that moment he wanted to pull Finn to him and kiss him. Crowd be damned.

“After the Montreal match,” Seth says without thinking. He sees Finn blink with confusion and Seth ignores the panic he feels trying to claw its way up. He swallows nervously. “Um, if anyone asks I’ll tell them that’s when I knew.”

He looks away from Finn’s surprised face for a second trying to collect himself and act nonchalant before he looks back at him. He’s greeted with a soft look on Finn’s face and he swallows hard at that.

“That works,” Finn says, quietly. Seth sees him open his mouth again, but hesitates. He watches as Finn scratches the back of his neck and lick his lips – a nervous gesture. “What about, um, kissing wise?”

There it is, Seth thinks. The one part he was trying to avoid. Finn’s still looking at him and Seth’s eyes flicker down to his lips before he looks back into Finn’s piercing gaze. It could be a trick of the light, but he swears Finn’s eyes go a darker shade of blue.

“Uh, maybe it won’t come up?” he tells Finn, who nods at that.

“Good thing we’re both not into PDA,” Finn says, smiling and Seth laughs at that agreeing with him.

“Hey it’s going to be easy,” Seth says, shrugging. “The good thing is we both booked our rooms in the same hotel for this weekend.”

“Yeah,” Finn says, agreeing. “Think Dean’s going to be on our arses a lot?”

Seth groans. He knows Dean well enough that that’s going to be the case.

Finn must have realized the groan Seth gave out was his way of saying yes, Dean is going to insufferable this weekend because he gives Seth a smirk.

“Well, have to show him what a great boyfriend I am,” Finn says, grinning and Seth rolls his eyes and smirks back him, thankful they can joke about this.

“Nah, if anything I’ll be the best,” he says and this time it’s Finn who rolls his eyes at him, but he still has a grin on his face.

“Everything has to be a competition to you, Rollins.”

Seth shrugs, a smirk still on his face. “I’m ‘The Man’ remember?” he teases.

“Bloody hell,” mutters Finn, but Seth can see that his face his bright with happiness. “You’re impossible.” And Seth laughs at that.

“We’re good now?” Seth asks him and Finn gives him a soft smile.

God, Seth thinks, when did that smile become a weakness for him?

“We’re always good, Seth,” Finn tells him softly and Seth can’t help but smile back at him.

Seth wants to say more, but he resists. He doesn’t want to ruin anything and he hopes, that this whole fake relationship charade they’re going to play this weekend doesn’t ruin anything either.

He watches Finn give him a final smile before he gets up to go to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When the bathroom door shuts behind Finn, Seth flops back on his bed and lets out a groan. He doesn’t know if he’ll survive this weekend in Brooklyn pretending to have Finn as his boyfriend when all he wants is for it to be real. He could always be brave enough to ask for it be real, to take him out on a real date, but there’s a part of him that says he isn’t worthy of someone like Finn.

He’s done some stupid and selfish things and all for what? Only to betrayed in the end.

Finn’s the definition of everything good in this world even with the darkness of the Demon in him. The light in Finn outweighs the darkness he carries, but Seth knows he himself is pure darkness.

Not worthy, he thinks bitterly.

Letting out a sigh, he gets himself situated under the covers and turns off the lamp on his side. He didn’t realize how tired he really is because his eyes feel heavy. The last thing he hears before he falls asleep completely is the bathroom door opening and some shuffling.

 He feels something brush his hair back from his face before sleep completely overtakes him.

 

*

 

“There’s the lovebirds!” calls out a familiar voice.

Seth lets out a groan, while Finn flashes him a quick smile before they both turn around.

Dean’s waving his hands at them and Seth looks up to the roof thinking what he did to deserve this. He hears Finn chuckle quietly and a hand closing around his wrist, squeezing gently, before letting go. He looks back down to see Finn smirking at him.

“This is your fault,” Finn jokes and Seth lets out another groan, muttering out a, “I know.” They’re at the Barclays on their way to the signings when they hear Dean’s voice. Seth is just thankful that there aren’t any fans around in the area they’re in or else they would’ve been fucked.

Dean approaches them and Seth glares at him. “Why are you even here? You don’t have anything going on.”

Dean gives him a grin. “Hi, Seth nice to see you too.”

He hears Finn giggle at that and Seth flashes his narrowed eyes at him instead and Finn gives him an innocent look and a shrug.

“How are you, Dean?” Finn asks because out of the two of them, he’s the one with manners.

Dean turns his smile towards Finn and gives him a grin. “I’m great.” His eyes flash back to Seth’s, before looking back at Finn, but this time with a smirk on his face. “I can see that you’re the polite one in this relationship.”

Seth glares at Dean. “You’re so annoying.” He gets an elbow to his ribs and lets out a yelp. He turns his glare towards Finn who’s shaking his head.

“Hey! What was the for?!” he asks, feeling grumpy.

Finn raises an eyebrow. “You’re being rude.”

Seth rubs at his side and rolls his eyes. “It’s Dean,” he says.

Finn gives him a deadpan look and Seth grumbles.

“I’m not apologizing to him,” Seth tells him.

Finn smiles and shakes his head. “Of course not.”

Seth feels the corner of his mouth twitch, wanting to smile. He tries to hold it back and keep a straight face, but he fails and ends up giving Finn a smile and a shake of his head. Finn in return gives him a bigger smile and fuck, Seth’s heart melts.

A throat clearing startles him and he forgot for a moment that they weren’t alone. Dean’s looking at them with a thoughtful expression.

“Huh,” Dean says.

“What?” Seth asks, puzzled.

Dean gives him a smile. “Nothing,” he says, shaking his head.

Seth lets out a huff, slightly annoyed. “Why are you even here, Dean?”

“Renee’s in the arena doing prep. Just here to take her to lunch,” Dean answers him. Seth lets himself relax at that. He feels a hand nudge his and he looks down to see it’s Finn’s. He looks back up and this time at Finn who nods towards the doors they were heading into for their signing.

“Shit,” he mutters. He looks back at Dean and gives him a sarcastic smile. “Well, this was fun,” he says in a voice that means anything but and Dean laughs at that. “But Finn and I are going to be late for our signing.”

Without thinking, he grabs Finn’s hand and interlocks their fingers together. There’s a startled expression on Finn’s face when he looks at their hands entwined, but Seth ignores it and his own heart racing. He’s just about to turn around with Finn when Dean starts speaking again.

“Wait! A bunch of us are going out to explore Brooklyn later. Do you two want to come?” Dean asks.

Seth looks at Finn who gives him a nod.

“Yeah, we’ll come. Text me the details,” Seth says and Dean nods.

They say their goodbyes and Seth all but drags Finn away and it isn’t until they have to enter the area their signings are at that, Seth remembers he’s holding Finn’s hand. He releases it and Finn gives him an amused smile.

“Passed the first test?”

Seth gives him a laugh. “The real test is trying to pretend in front of them later.”

Finn laughs at that and agrees with him.

 

During the signing, Seth couldn’t help himself and kept looking over at where Finn’s signing was, directly across from him on the other side of the room. He would see glimpses of Finn interacting with his fans and the ones where there were little children involved, those ones made his heart swell with so much love.

It’s great meeting fans and talking with them about music and other things, but it’s also exhausting. He feels like he could take a long nap and he tells Finn exactly that as they’re walking back to the hotel together.

Finn laughs at him and Seth pouts.

“Don’t laugh at me,” he whines and Finn flashes him a grin.

“Don’t be a baby,” Finn fires back at him. “We have plans with the others. C’mon Rollins, we got friends to pretend in front of him.”

Seth’s hit with guilt about lying to his friends, but he pushes it away.

“But why are we going back to the hotel?” he asks instead.

Finn raises an eyebrow at him. “Mate, we literally hugged a lot of people. I kind of want to get into fresher clothes.”

“Huh,” Seth says. “You’re right. That’s smart.”

Finn smirks at him. “Guess that makes me the smart one in this relationship.”

“Ugh,” Seth groans out. He gently pushes Finn to the side and he watches as Finn stumbles, but laughs, squinting his eyes in the process.

Seth’s hit with a wave of affection for the Irishman and he doesn’t think he’d ever get tired of the happiness that’s been radiating off Finn this week.

 -

“Wait, does that mean when we were at Waffle House Monday night, I was a third wheel?!” Kevin asks, annoyed.

Seth smirks and puts an arm around Finn’s waist, who tucks himself into Seth. Seth doesn’t think he’ll ever get over how perfectly Finn fits into him.

“Yup,” he says, popping the ‘p’.

“Sorry, Kev,” Finn says.

Kevin narrows his eyes at the both of them, but focus his attention on Finn.

“You tell me most things. Why didn’t you tell me you and Seth are dating?”

Seth feels Finn stiffen beside him so he drags his thumb under the shirt that Finn’s wearing and softly caresses the naked skin there. He feels Finn relax, but he continues lightly tracing his thumb back and forth on his waist.

“We just wanted to keep it to ourselves. See if we’d work out,” Finn tells Kevin. Seth sees understanding on Kevin’s face as he nods.

“Sorry, bud,” Seth adds in.

“Nah it’s fine. Can’t say I’m surprised though,” Kevin tells them, smiling.

Seth stills at that and blinks in surprise at that. “What do you mean?”

Kevin gives them a look. “C’mon, you two are always together. I mean, don’t get me wrong Finn, I love you, but I’d get sick of you pretty quick if I spent as much time as you two do together.”

“We don’t spend that much time together!” Seth protests.

“Yes, you do!” a female voice chimes in. He looks behind him to see a grinning Renee and an equally smirking Dean behind him.

Feeling exasperated, Seth flips them off, but gets an elbow in his ribs – again.

“Babe,” Seth whines, releasing his arm around Finn to rub his own side. “This is the second time you’ve done this!”

Finn gives him a look and narrowed eyes. “You were being rude – again.”

Seth lets out an annoyed huff and crosses his arms and narrows his own eyes at Finn.

“You’re supposed to be a supportive boyfriend!”

“I am when you’re not being a prat,” Finn retorts back at him. There’s mischief glinting in those blue eyes of his and Seth will never not stop being memorized by them.

“Okay, lovebirds, no arguing here,” Dean says, stepping beside them with Renee in tow. “There’s a food festival or whatever happening and everyone’s already there c’mon.”

Seth watches as Dean, Renee and Kevin all walk ahead of them and Finn nudges his side.

“Babe, huh?” Finn asks, smirking.

Seth gives him a shrug and a nervous smile. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Finn shakes his head. “Nah. Can I call you ‘love’ then?”

Seth feels his heart racing at that and he nervously scratches his beard while he nods.

“Yeah, um, I’m fine with that.”

Finn gives him a sweet smile and Seth has the urge once again to pull him in for a kiss. His fingers twitch at the thought, but he pushes it down.

“C’mon,” Finn says. “Let’s go follow them.”

 

The place they end up with everyone has so many different types of food, Seth feels like he’s in heaven.

Finn’s been laughing at him the entire time and laughs even more when he takes pictures of some of the food and adds it to his Instagram story.

There are moments when Finn sees something he likes and he grabs Seth’s wrist and drags him over to the stand of food and Seth happily obliges to Finn’s requests.

The whole time they were there it just felt – natural.

There were moments where he would take a bite out of a dessert and hold it out to Finn to take a bite, who would.

Every time he held something out for Finn to try, Finn would happily oblige.

Every. Time.

Along with taking pictures of the food, Seth had taken too many of Finn. He loved seeing Finn happy and carefree. He knows that some days are hard for Finn, but seeing him like this, seeing him so radiant – he had to keep these memories somehow.

There was a moment where Finn had gotten some icing from a dessert stuck in the corner of his mouth, and Seth without thinking, had reached out and used his thumb to wipe it away. He got lost in the moment, forgetting about their surroundings and had continued rubbing his thumb along Finn’s bottom lip.

His eyes had flickered up to meet Finn’s and he was taken aback at how intense and dark Finn’s eyes had gotten. He felt like he was burning from that look and they both snapped out of it when someone had called their names.

He’d dropped his hand from Finn’s face and had cleared his throat. He saw Finn’s eyes flicker down to his lips for a brief second and Seth felt like someone lit a fire inside him.

The entire time he and Finn were faking it as a couple while out with their friends, it felt anything but fake. It felt – real.

These are dangerous thoughts Seth can’t be having. He knows it’s not real. It’s fake. The only thing real about the whole thing is their friendship and Seth doesn’t want to lose that. He knows his feelings aren’t fake and he feels like he’s leaking out what he feels any time he looks at Finn.

“We did good today, right?” Finn asks him as they enter their hotel floor.

Seth gives him a smile. “Yeah. Yeah we did.”

Finn gives him a soft smile. Their rooms are on opposite ends of the hall and he sees Finn take a step forward, but hesitates. He takes a step back instead.

“Well, goodnight,” Finn says, softly.

Seth’s fingers twitch at the need to pull him in, but instead he tucks his hands into his sweater pocket.

“Goodnight, Finn,” he says, equally as soft.

Finn gives him one last smile before he turns and walks away from him.

Seth stands there for a moment wanting nothing more than to follow him and push him against the wall and kiss him. He feels his hands curl into fists inside his pockets and he shakes his head, somehow hoping the thoughts would go away.

Instead, he turns away and goes to his own room.

 

-

 

“Demon making an appearance tonight?” Seth asks Finn, sitting on a chair beside him as he watches Finn get painted up.

He’s worried because it’s been a long while since the Demon has come out. He knows Finn deals with the Demon speaking to him in his head, but it’s been almost a year since Finn has let the Demon come out for a little bit.

“Yeah,” Finn says, glancing at him at the corner of his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, love.”

He feels his heart skip a beat at the term of endearment, but he has other things to worry about. Like the fact that the Demon is going to be controlling part of Finn.

“You say that every time,” mutters Seth.

Finn lets out a sigh and grabs a hold of Seth’s wrist. He brushes his thumb against the pulse point on his wrist and all Seth can do is stare.

“Seth,” Finn sighs. “I’ll be fine.” He gives one last swipe to Seth’s wrist before he releases it.

Seth lets out a frustrated sigh but knows he can’t do anything about it right now.

“Also, nice outfit, Thanos,” Finn tells him, smirking.

Seth lets out a laugh and shakes his head.

“Oh yeah? What’s tonight’s paint job inspired by then?”

Finn turns his head and gives him a sheepish look.

“Carnage.”

Seth laughs at that.

“We’re both dorks. So, you can’t judge me,” he grins and Finn grins back at him before facing the makeup artist who’s doing the painting.

The makeup artist shakes her head fondly at the two of them.

“You two are cute,” she says and Seth gives her a smile.

Somehow, unsurprisingly, most of the roster on both brands and some behind the scenes people had found out that him and Finn are together so now they’ve had to act like even more like they were a couple.

And they did. They’ve been more affectionate and touchy with each other more today after yesterday’s adventure. He still isn’t over how natural it feels and he wishes nothing more than to make it real, but he knows Finn could never feel the same. Finn may be one of the closest friends he has, (best friend, really, if he thinks about it) but he knows Finn probably would rather like someone who has their shit together.

“Hey, Seth! We’re going out soon! We’re needed in the gorilla area!” a voice calls.

He looks away from Finn to see Dean motioning for him to come over.

“Okay!” Seth yells back. He gets up from the chair and he’s about to say his goodbye to Finn when he’s interrupted by a yelling Dean.

“Finn! Give him a good luck kiss!”

Seth’s heart stops for a moment, before he turns his head and glares at Dean who’s smirking.

He ignores how his cheeks have heated up at the thought of Finn kissing him and he’s internally freaking out because he can’t just leave now without getting a kiss or else the entire thing will blow up in their face. He feels hand on his arm and when he looks, Finn’s giving him a small nervous smile.

The makeup artist is pretending to get more paints ready to give them space and he watches as Finn takes a step forward. Most of Finn’s neck area and chest is covered in paint and he feels hands on both sides of his face. Finn’s staring at him intently and Seth holds his breath as his heart races a mile a minute.

His eyes close when he feels Finn’s lips brush over his softly and then there’s pressure and Finn – _Finn is kissing him_.

It’s all he’s ever wanted and all he wants to do is pull him in, but he can’t because of the paint so he keeps his arms by his side. He kisses Finn back and the kiss, it’s gentle and sweet. Finn’s lips softer than he thought.

But just like that, it’s over and Finn’s pulling away and Seth opens his eyes to see Finn’s own eyes dark. His entire body feels like it’s burning from Finn’s heated gaze.

“Good luck,’ Finn whispers and Seth licks his lips, holding Finn’s gaze for a beat longer before he takes a step back.

His hands are shaking slightly as he runs it through his hair and he gives Finn a small smile, who returns it.

“Turn him into dust, Thanos,” Finn teases, smirking at him and Seth lets out a loud laugh at that, his facing scrunching up. He shakes his head, grinning at Finn who grins back at him. He turns away from him when Finn makes a shooing motion.

_I’m so fucked_ , he thinks.

 

 

He’s aching everywhere but fuck, he finally got his IC Title back. He feels like he’s on top of the world and the only thing that could make it better was if he got to see Finn to share this moment with him, but Roman had told him Finn wanted to keep the finished product a secret until his entrance later.

“He looks sick so far, man,” Roman tells him, grinning.

Seth lets out a breathless laugh.

“Don’t worry, Seth, you’ll see your boyfriend soon enough,” Dean says, ruffling Seth’s hair and Seth swats at his hand and Dean laughs.

He looks down at the title he’s holding and grins.

All he feels is happiness in this moment and to have Dean and Roman by his side to celebrate this moment, well it feels great, but he wishes Finn were here to celebrate a long with them.

Soon him and Dean are dragged off to get some pictures together and pictures of him by himself with his title again.

When everything is done, enough time has passed with social media and PR things and him getting changed and showered that it’s finally time for him to see Finn’s entrance and match.

He’s watching in one of the areas backstage where a TV is set up and he has Dean and Roman and some of the other stars with him also waiting in anticipation at seeing Finn’s entrance. He knows the others watching think the best part of Finn’s entrance is when it’s the Demon entrance.

Baron comes out first and Seth taps his foot in impatience as he has to wait through the different announcers from all over the world introduce themselves.

Then finally, the arena goes dark.

The familiar beat of the demon theme starts playing and Seth already feels goosebumps on his arms. The effects they added on TV off a red, bloody looking cloud over the arena looks amazing.

He watches as the guitar hits and then the spotlight is on Finn, who has his arms raised and Seth feels breathless. Finn looks – he looks amazing.

Seth doesn’t think he’ll never not get goosebumps when the crowd raises their arms in the air at the same time Finn does. He’s seen it so many times when he’s been in the ring with him, but seeing the shots on TV is breathtaking.

“Holy shit,” mutters Dean from beside him.

“Yeah,” Seth breathes out in agreement.

He watches Finn stick out his tongue multiple times and Seth feels a pool of heat in his stomach. It’s not fair, he thinks, for someone to look so good and so desirable when they’re painted up to show the Demon.

The match is short, Seth knowing that it was to show the world that Finn isn’t just some small person. He can keep up with and take down anyone bigger than him. Seth knows that Finn is one of the best wrestlers they got on the roster and one that deserves so much better.

“People can’t underestimate him,” Roman says. Seth looks over at Roman who’s looking back at him. “I’ve been in the ring with him. He’s a tough son of a bitch,” he finishes, smiling fondly.

Seth gives him a smile and Dean lets out a groan.

“Dude, now I want to get in the ring with him. I feel left out.”

Seth laughs and shakes his head. “He’d win.”

“Hey, who knows. Demon vs my gimmick? That’d be one hell of a fight,” Dean says, smirking.

Seth looks back at the TV and is greeted with a victorious Demon sticking out his tongue. Fuck, Seth thinks, it really is a hot look.

He’s itching to go see Finn, to see if he’s okay after letting the Demon out, but he knows there’s too many things for Finn to do before Seth can even see him. He’s also kind of glad he won’t be seeing him right away after the match because if he did, he’d probably drag Finn into an empty room and kiss him senseless.

Instead, he follows Dean to the catering area after saying his well wishes to Roman who’s main eventing and needs to do final preparations.

He loses track of time having some laughs with Dean and other superstars when he sees Finn enter the area they’re in back to his regular self. He watches as Finn’s eyes scan the surrounding area until his eyes land on Seth’s. Seth grins at him and waves him over to where he’s sitting. He stands up and Finn barrels into him right away giving him a hug. Seth’s stunned for a moment before he wraps his arms around Finn, laughing.

“I’m so proud of you, love, ” Finn says and Seth can hear the smile in his voice.

“Thanks, babe,” Seth says, grinning.

He feels Finn pull away from him for after a moment, but Seth keeps his arms around Finn. He looks over Finn’s grinning face and his blue eyes seem brighter than usual, almost clear and there’s still a little bit of eyeliner on Finn’s eyes, but damn if it isn’t hot. He watches as Finn’s eyes glance to where their friends are and before Seth can even blink, he feels Finn peck his lips with his own, before quickly pulling away.

He’s stunned for a moment, blinking, dumbfounded.

He sees Finn wink at him before giving a slight nod towards their friends and understanding dawns on him.

Right, he thinks. Fake relationship.

He gives Finn a smile, before finally letting him go.

“Finn!” Dean calls out.

Finn turns his attention away from Seth to look down at where Dean’s sitting.

“You looked awesome!”

Seth smiles when he sees Finn’s face brighten even more.

“Thanks, mate,” Finn says, beaming.

“Hopefully I get to face the Demon one day soon,” Dean tells him and Finn laughs.

“You’ll never be ready for him.”

Dean shrugs and smirks. “We’ll see.”

“Hey,” Seth mutters quietly. Finn turns his gaze towards him and raises an eyebrow. “How are you? Demon didn’t take too much out of you, did he?”

 Finn gives him a fond smile and shakes his head. “No, it wasn’t bad tonight. I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“I’ll always worry,” Seth mutters back at him and Finn gives him a smile, lifting his hand up to tug slightly on Seth’s hair, before putting his hands down.

“I know,” Finn mutters, softly.

Their moment is broken when someone throws a single grape at him and he lets out a protest.

“Too much PDA!” says Dean, who’s the culprit of throwing the grape and Seth glares at him.

“You’re annoying, did you know that?” Seth tells him and Dean laughs.

“You’ve said that so many times this weekend.”

“And yet it’s true,” Seth fires back, still glaring.

Dean gives him a shrug.

Seth hears Finn giggle and turns his attention back towards him, but Finn shakes his head.

“Sit down. I’m getting food. I’ll be back,” Finn says, before walking away from him.

Seth does what he’s told and sits back down in his seat, but not before making sure there’s an empty chair beside him so Finn can sit beside him. He catches Dean looking at him with a knowing look and Seth ignores him.

He’s finding it harder to keep his feelings for Finn buried and he’s scared that the truth will come out soon and that it might ruin everything.

But as he watches Finn talk with Becky over where the food is and Finn laughs at something Becky tells him and Seth heart feels like it’s going to explode with the fondness and love he feels for the man. Selfishly, he’s glad they’re doing this because if he can’t have the real thing, then this is good enough.

-

 

They’re back at Barclays for RAW the next night and Seth has an uneasy feeling about today. He hadn’t seen Finn since last night since they both had separate things to do this morning and he’s itching to see him now that he found out about Finn and Roman main eventing tonight for the Universal Championship. He was overjoyed at the fact that title is back on someone, hardworking and deserving of it like Roman, who shows up to work every single day. A fighting champion finally. Roman is his friend too so as his friend he was over the moon.

But, he knows what’s going to happen during tonight’s main event and he’s nervous about seeing Finn and the uneasy feeling still stays with him.

The night still doesn’t improve especially when he’s told to go out wearing Dean’s new shirt. He grumbles as he puts it on while Dean laughs at him, before Dean himself gets into character.

Even after Dean’s match, Finn is nowhere to be found and he thinks he sees a glimpse of him, but he and Dean are dragged away to get ready in their tactical gear.

Dean must have noticed Seth’s uneasiness and grumpiness because in a rare moment of seriousness, Dean places a hand on Seth’s shoulder.

“Seth, are you okay?” Dean asks him, before removing his hand from Seth’s shoulder. Seth lets out a frustrated exhale and runs his hands through his hair.

“I’m just worried,” he mutters.

“About what?” Dean asks, giving him a confused look.

“About Finn,” he answers.

Dean gives him a perplexed look and Seth lets out a frustrated groan.

“Look, Finn’s been through too much bullshit ever since he came back last year from injury,” he begins. “And now, when he’s finally getting a chance at a title he never officially lost, he’s being used as a fucking _plot point_ for a Shield reunion.” He lets out an angry sigh. “He’s set out to lose tonight just so us three can get back together. Don’t get me wrong, I love you and Uce and being together. I just,” He tugs on his hair, still frustrated. “I just wish Finn wasn’t being used for it.”

He’s angry. He’s angry at how much bullshit Finn had to endure this past year and still continues to endure. He knows Finn puts on a smiling exterior but Seth knows Finn almost better than he knows himself. He can see right through the fake smiles and the constant, “I’m fine’s.”

“You love him a lot, don’t you?” Dean asks him, quietly.

And isn’t that the million-dollar question?

“Yeah,” Seth whispers. “Yeah, I do.”

It’s one thing to admit to himself, but saying it out loud is another. It feels more real and it makes him feel vulnerable – a feeling he doesn’t like to get.

“Damn, dude,” Dean mutters.

Seth chokes out a laugh at that statement.

Yeah. Damn, dude.

 

The match goes as planned and his and Dean’s entrance to stop Braun goes as planned. There’s a moment when he was walking back up the ramp with Dean and Roman, that his eyes meet Finn’s and Seth felt like utter crap when he saw devastation written all over Finn’s face. He wanted nothing more to run to him and tell him he’s sorry. To kiss every inch of his face and comfort him, telling him it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay. But he doesn’t. Instead, he turns away and walks backstage with Dean and Roman by his side.

He’s in the locker room impatiently waiting for Finn to get back. Dean, Roman and some of the other guys are still in here, finishing packing their things up. Seth had quickly got out of the Shield gear he was in, slipping on sweats and a sweater. Now he was sitting at his locker watching the locker room door like a hawk waiting for Finn.

Finally, after what felt like ages, he sees Finn enter the locker room looking tired and drenched in sweat and an equally tired and sweaty looking Braun following in behind Finn. Seth quickly shoots up from where he was sitting, startling Roman who was standing beside him. He makes his way to where Finn is going through his bag at his locker and places a hand on his shoulder. He sees Finn tense the moment Seth’s hand is placed and he turns his head to look back at Seth, a blank look on his face.

It doesn’t deter Seth though.

“Hey, are you okay?” Seth asks him, quietly.

He feels Finn shrug off his hand before turning his head back down to his bag. Seth feels a stab of hurt from that, but ignores it.

“I’m fine,” Finn mutters and Seth frowns.

“I know you’re not. Just talk to me.”

“I said I’m fine!” Finn shouts, turning around and facing Seth. His eyes go black for a second and Seth flinches at that, knowing Finn’s having difficultly controlling the Demon.

The room goes silent as the others watch the scene unfold.

Seth, feeling brave and determined reaches out to take a hold of Finn’s arm, but Finn flinches back, holding up a hand and Seth stomach sinks.

“Don’t,” Finn whispers, shaking his head. “Just don’t.

“Finn-”

“Seth! I said, don’t,” Finn growls out, his voice deeper than usual.

Seth heart sinks. He knows Finn isn’t himself right now, the Demon trying to claw his way out. The black eyes that had flashed for a second and the deep voice was an indication of that. He wants Finn to come back to himself, but Seth knows as always, he’s doing more harm than good.

“Okay, Finn,” Seth says quietly. They look at each other for a moment before Finn breaks eye contact, grabbing his bag and walks away from him to go into the showers.

He feels a hand on his back and he turns around, letting the hand fall in the process, to see Roman giving him a concerned look.

“Are you okay?” he asks, gently.

Seth gives him a shrug. He’s more worried about Finn than himself right now.

“Want Dean and I to drive you back to the hotel?” Roman asks and Seth shakes his head.

“No, you guys can go. I’m going to wait for Finn.”

Roman frowns. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Seth gives him a tense smile. “Nah, but I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

Roman sighs and pulls him in for a hug that Seth happily melts into. Roman has always felt like an older brother to him so the hug was a welcome comfort. They let go of each other and Roman smiles.

“Call me if you need anything, okay?”

Seth nods, giving him a small smile. Dean comes up to them and gives Seth his own smile and hug before they both leave the locker room. The guys still in here are already collecting their things and leaving one by one until it’s only Seth left in the room, with Finn in the showers.

He’s sitting back down at his own locker, waiting for Finn to come back out. He doesn’t know how things will go, if it’ll be tense like it was when Finn had entered the room or if Finn managed to get control of the Demon and is back to his normal self.

“Seth?”

He whips his head up to see Finn stepping back into the locker room. He’s back in his regular clothes and there’s a look of weariness on his face that makes Seth’s heart clench. He stands up and makes his way over to Finn. He lifts his hand up to grab a hold of Finn’s arm in a form of comfort, but he hesitates, thinking better of it and let’s his hand drop back to his side.

They just stare at each for a few seconds neither of them saying anything and Seth can see the guarded look in Finn’s eyes.

Seth’s the first one to break the silence.

“Are you okay?”

There’s a flicker of surprise on Finn’s face, but it disappears just as quickly as it appeared. He looks away from Seth.

“I’m fine,” he mutters, obviously lying and Seth lets out a frustrated huff.

“Finn,” he starts. “I know you’re everything but fine.”

Finn whips his head back to face Seth and glares at him. Seth makes sure to keep his hurt under check with the way Finn’s looking at him.

“Seth, you’re not actually my boyfriend. You don’t have to pretend in front of me,” Finn spits out, angrily.

Seth flinches back at that and he’s see regret on Finn’s face before it’s back to a blank angry expression.

Despite the hurt he’s feeling, he straightens himself up and gives Finn his own steely look.

“If you’ve forgotten, we’re still friends and I care about you!”

“Do you?” Finn asks, giving him a cool look.

Seth’s taken aback from that. He doesn’t know why Finn’s acting like this and he wants nothing more to shake him and scream at him that yes, he does care more than he cares about himself.

It’s now or never, Seth thinks and takes a deep breath. He places both his hands on either side of Finn’s face – who’s expression is surprised – and rubs both his thumbs on his cheek.

“Finn,” he says, heart in his throat. “You have to know I love you.”

“What?” whispers Finn, stunned.

Swallowing, Seth gives him a weak smile.

“I love you,” his voice cracking. “More than just as a friend.”

He feels vulnerable and exposed. He’s baring out his entire feelings he’s felt for Finn this past year, hell, maybe even longer.

“I can’t,” whispers Finn, shaking off Seth’s hands from his face and Seth feels his entire world fall apart. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.” Finn steps away from Seth, giving him a heartbreaking look before he flees from the locker room.

Seth’s frozen, staring blankly at where Finn was moments ago. He feels – he feels nothing. But what did he expect? For Finn to fall into his arms? To love him back?

No, he thinks, pushing his hand against his heart, thinking it’ll stop the heartbreak he feels. No, he thinks, again. Not worthy.

All he wanted was to be left alone, but Dean and Roman had stayed behind in the parking garage and had come back to the locker room after they saw Finn driving away alone. They had found him still standing, staring blankly into the air, his hand against his chest.

 

He’s grateful for them, deep down knowing he didn’t want to be alone left with all his thoughts so he decided to shed away one piece of guilt and told them the truth when they came back to his hotel room.

“We’re not actually together,” Seth mutters to them.

“What?” Dean and Roman say at the same time.

“I lied. We were pretending because I got angry and panicked when you,” he gestures to Dean. “Said that no one would ever want to be with me.”

Dean gives him a guilty look while Roman narrows his eyes at Dean.

“Dude, I’m sorry about that. I should have known better,” Dean apologizes and Seth shakes his head and lets out a bitter laugh.

“I mean, you’re not wrong.”

This time Roman and Dean both narrow their eyes at him and Seth shrugs.

“I told him I loved him and he ran away,” he whispers and he pushes his hand against his chest, feeling the hurt of it all over again.

“He might have been scared,” Roman says, giving him a sympathetic look.

“Sure, whatever,” mutters Seth.

Dean’s watching him, studying his face before he looks away to take out his phone, swiping the screen before turning it so the screen is facing Seth.

It’s a picture of him and Finn and Seth clearly remembers that moment – where he had wiped away the frosting from Finn’s mouth. His throat is dry and he looks at it because they’re both smiling softly at each other in the picture and Seth knows he was looking at Finn with love, but Finn – Finn has similar look on his face.

“If you don’t think he doesn’t love you back, you’re dumber than I thought,” Dean says. “You and him may have thought you were pretending, but clearly it was more real than both of you thought.”

Seth hearts racing and he has the urge to go find Finn, sit him and down and tell him one more time that he loves him.

There’s a knock at his hotel door and startled, Seth composes himself and goes to answer it. When he opens the door, he’s greeted with a guilty and determined looking Finn. All Seth can do is stand there and stare at him in surprise.

Speak of the devil, he thinks.

He hears shuffling behind him and he sees Finn’s eyes flicker behind him and hesitates.

“Oh, you have company,” he says.

“Nope! We’re just leaving! C’mon, Dean,” Roman says, from behind Seth. Roman gives Seth an encouraging smile and Dean salutes them both before they both leave and it’s just Finn and Seth alone.

“Um,” Seth swallows, nervously. “Come in.”

Finn steps in and Seth closes the door before turning around to face Finn who’s already facing him.

“I’m sorry,” Finn blurts out. “I acted like a jerk to you back at the arena.”

Seth nods and gives him a smile, weary smile. “Yeah.”

“I was just,” Finn lets out a sigh. “Frustrated about everything and I took out all my anger on you. You didn’t deserve that, Seth. I’m so sorry.”

Seth shrugs, crossing his arms. “I was trying to make sure you were alright.”

Finn takes a step towards him and wraps a hand around Seth’s wrist. He’s looking at Seth with guilty and remorseful eyes and fuck, Seth’s always been weak when it comes to those eyes. He feels himself relax.

“I know,” whispers Finn. “Everything just felt too much and I felt like everything I was feeling was spilling over.”

Seth places his own hand over onto where Finn’s holding his wrist.

“Finn, it’s okay,” he tells him.

Finn shakes his head. “It’s not. You were just trying to help and the bitter part of myself wanted to push you away. With everything going on wrestling wise and then with you being so good to me this entire weekend we were faking it, it felt too much and I took out my anger on you. You didn’t deserve that.”

“Why did you lash out?” Seth asks, feeling brave.

He watches Finn’s eye flick away from his for a second before they’re back on his.

“When you were walking back up the ramp and our eyes locked,” Finn swallows, letting out an exhale of breath before he continues. “All I wanted was for you to come to me and kiss my forehead and tell me everything was going to be alright. I remembered we were faking it and got sad and mixed in with the anger I was already feeling from the way the match ended, it felt too much.”

Seth feels his heart stop for a moment. So, he wasn’t the only feeling like his feelings were unrequited.

“Why did you run away from me then back in the locker room?” Seth asks, feeling vulnerable.

“I got scared,” Finn whispers. “I also needed to get my head back on straight before I could see you again and tell you something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long, long time.”

Seth thinks his heart is about to explode out of his chest and when Finn reaches up to place a hand on his cheek, he’s a bundle of a nerves.

“I love you too,” Finn whispers, softly and Seth can’t hold back any more. He pulls Finn into him and kisses him fiercely.

Immediately, Finn kisses him back just as fiercely. Seth feels like someone lit a match inside him because his entire body feels like it’s on fire. Finn’s hands are fisted in his hair and when Finn tugs on them, he lets out a moan and kisses Finn harder and rougher. He walks them forward to the bed, only breaking the kiss to kiss his way down Finn’s jaw and neck. Finn falls backwards on the bed and crawls backwards, his heated gaze on Seth’s own, as Seth places himself on top of Finn.

He kisses Finn gentler this time, taking his time.

After a few moments, they break apart, but their lips are still close enough that when Seth begins to speak, his lips brush against Finn’s.

“No more pretending?” he asks.

Finn’s eyes are bright and so, so blue. There really is nothing in the world that can be compared to it. Finn’s eye should be considered as one of the wonders of the world because they’re more beautiful than anything Seth’s seen.

He gets a smile from Finn.

“No more pretending,” Finn says.

Seth grins and kisses him again.

They have more things to talk about later, but right now, with Finn’s hands on his bare skin underneath his shirt, igniting a fire with every trail he leaves with those fingers, Seth thinks he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

_Worthy_ , he thinks. He’s worthy.  

**Author's Note:**

> The reason this took me all week to finish is because 1)I spent most of the week hiking in diff places and getting bitten by mosquitos and 2)I'm easily distracted. But I got it done! And I hope you liked it!
> 
> As always, feedback is always welcomed and appreciated! 
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr @tillthendbarnes or on Twitter @susanahmadi, so hit me up on either!


End file.
